Earthquakes

First the earthquake, hitting 7.5 on the richter scale, and then the tsunami with waves up to 6 metres high struck the Indonesian coast. The city of Palu on the island of Sulawesi was devastated; homes, businesses and hospitals were flattened. Hundreds have been confirmed dead with hundreds more reported missing or injured.

Thousands of terrified tourists are being taken off the island of Lombok by boat after an earthquake destroyed roads, bridges and damaged huge numbers of buildings. At least 98 people were killed and over 200 injured, with thousands more now homeless.

Jon has received a poignant letter from a European woman in Sendai. She describes a town where people leave their doors open and neighbours leave food for each other on porches; ‘a return to the good old days’.

The first tremor woke people up at 5.39am, but in this remote Tibetan region where most live at the mercy of the elements, few took much notice. Two hours later a huge earthquake, 7.1 on the Richter scale, ripped through Yushu county. According to the government, 85 per cent of houses were destroyed in the…

Alexandros Yiannopoulos is Oxfam’s coordinator of food security and livelihood in Haiti. To find out more about Oxfam in Haiti visit their website here. This is the first time I have tried to keep anything like a blog or diary, even though many of my friends have asked me to keep them up-to-date with my…